Renee D Rienecke1,2, Sasha Gorrell3, Dan V Blalock4,5, Kathryn Smith6, James Lock7, Daniel Le Grange3,8. 1. Eating Recovery Center/Pathlight Mood and Anxiety Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA. 2. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA. 3. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA. 4. Center of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation, Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA. 5. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA. 6. Department of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA. 7. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA. 8. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the current study is to examine expressed emotion (EE) and long-term treatment outcome among adolescents participating in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) for treatment of anorexia nervosa (AN). It was hypothesized that patients with high EE parents at baseline would show more severe symptoms at end-of-treatment, 12-month follow-up, and 4-year follow-up than patients from low EE families. METHOD: Secondary data analysis was conducted of original RCT data from a two-site eating disorder treatment trial conducted in the United States. Participants were 121 adolescents with AN who completed measures of EE, eating disorder psychopathology, depression, and self-esteem. RESULTS: Generalized estimating equations showed that participants who were in the Low EE group achieved a more accelerated drop in depression scores in the context of treatment (first 12 months) than participants in the High EE group. No other significant Group × Time interactions were found. DISCUSSION: Findings suggest that high parental EE at baseline does not indicate that adolescent patients with AN will fare poorly 4 years later.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the current study is to examine expressed emotion (EE) and long-term treatment outcome among adolescents participating in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) for treatment of anorexia nervosa (AN). It was hypothesized that patients with high EE parents at baseline would show more severe symptoms at end-of-treatment, 12-month follow-up, and 4-year follow-up than patients from low EE families. METHOD: Secondary data analysis was conducted of original RCT data from a two-site eating disorder treatment trial conducted in the United States. Participants were 121 adolescents with AN who completed measures of EE, eating disorder psychopathology, depression, and self-esteem. RESULTS: Generalized estimating equations showed that participants who were in the Low EE group achieved a more accelerated drop in depression scores in the context of treatment (first 12 months) than participants in the High EE group. No other significant Group × Time interactions were found. DISCUSSION: Findings suggest that high parental EE at baseline does not indicate that adolescent patients with AN will fare poorly 4 years later.